Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1887-05-20
INDIA RUBBER.
How the Natives OF Costa Rtca
Take 1t to Market.
A Thrifty Tree Able To Yield More Than
Fifty Pounds of Rubber

The chief industry in eastern Costa
Rca is the collection Of caoutehouc
pronounced kcechook, with the accent
strong on the first syllable, as th' na~
tive Indians call that substance to us
known as India rubber Not many
years ago, says the Providence Journal
more than 10o 600 pounds Of 1t were
shipped every month from Graytown
alone, but at present the av eragc export
per month is only about G2, 600 pounds.
This considerable falling off is due to
the fact that no legal or other surycll-
lauce is exercised over the gathering OF
the gum, and with the customary i'm
providence of these people many OF
the valuable trees which yield it have
been ruined The Yularoes or rubber
/ hunters are the most ignorant and ire
sponsibe creatures, whose first object
when out in a hunt is to secure as much
caoutchouc as possible aad next to dam
age the prosp Cts Of other Yularoe', re-
gardIcs5 Of the future.
A thrifty tree at its first cutting
ought to yield not less than fifty
pounds of rubber but the hunters of to-
day find few 50 prof.abIc-unlcS' they
penetrate far into the virgin forests and
are lucky enough to discover al entirely
new district. In those sections already
worked most Of the trees have been
tapped several times and many Of them
were spoiled at the outset by having
been cut too youlg-;ts greedy discov-
ercr fearing that if the prize we've lelt
to attain perfection another might find
and secure it. We're the matter regulat
ed by juliciou7 laws, so that only ma
turc trees might be tapped, and thos'
not to an extent to cause death, The
production Of caoutchouc would b
greatly increase |. Recently the Cost'
Rican government has offered ent nsiyc
grants of lanl to any who will dcvot
them to the culture of rubber trees bu
50 far few have avaled themselves o
the opportunity.
NJ my attempts have been made to i'm
port the juic5 of the tree in its natura
{ state, but SO far none of these effort
: have succeeded. While in liquid forr
: it may be fashioned into any shape b
| means of molds, bat no process has we
beer discovcra1 to prevent its solidifS
ing There is always gooa "s'-
partially hard ened caoutchouc adherln
, to the bark of the tree, which is torn o
in long, stringy masses, called herucha
or course, this is not nearly so valulbI
as the solid cakes, and is more especia
@ ly the product Of those trees that hav
p been cut several times, anl therefor
cannot yield a copiou, flow of sap; bu
\ it is wrapped up in bun Hes and exporte
: for various purposes. Commarclal'
speaking, the caoutchouc of Paris
q considered best, and commands ii
hi lhcst price in mlrkot while that lrol
tile west coast Of Atrc. is least de3ira
o be, being only Slightly elastic, AMI DIX
. its col'cctors) extremely offensive in odo
Great quantities are also brought fro
British India. Mauritius, and Il
.e Indian archipelago
f. The milky juice, which play now
important put among the carth's pr
l. ductions, was first used by Those Ccntr
" American Indians. Their caoutcho
< was made known to the world as clast
t gum, an was long afterward given t
= name Of rubber from the discovery
m its usefulness in rubbing out the mar
+ cf black lead pencils. For the latt
to purpose it began to b. imported in
in Great Britain toward the c.osc Of
n, last century, aud beng mucl valued
at artists was sod at high price. En-
IS. in 1880 the Span sh conqujs alorcs
I'd Mexico had learned to make caoutcho
ly into shoes an also used it for waXi
d. their canvas coa,s to make them res
ed watcr-somethng as the clothing Of
.iy modern Yuar is coated. That,
IN doubt, was the origin Of the ilea Of
his manufacture into waterproof co
He which first gave it great commercial
2m portancc. Not until 1920 did its {
of ployment begin to extend much beyC
tho nrasino IF npncil mark thou rh